=weezer=

Weezer

"Post-slacker" US guitar pop artisans from Los Angeles, California, USA, comprising Rivers Cuomo (b. 13 June 1970, Yogaville, Connecticut, USA; vocals/guitar), Brian Bell (b. 9 December 1968, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; guitar), Matt Sharp (bass) and Patrick Wilson (b. 1 February 1969, Buffalo, New York, USA; drums). Cuomo grew up in rural Connecticut before deciding to move to Los Angeles at the age of 18 to form a band. Rivers, Pat, Brian and Matt met in Los Angeles as strangers and decided to form their own band. Cuomo began writing songs and things started to come together.

But sucess was not instant. They played clubs before being signed to their record label. The official date of formation was 14 February 1992, signing to DGC Records in June of the following year. On the back of offbeat singles, "Undone - The Sweater Song" and "Buddy Holly' (a tale of high school prom rejection featuring a memorable Happy Days pastiche video), and seven months" touring their native country, their self-titled debut album, produced by Ric Ocasek of the Cars and Chris Shaw in New York, went on to sell nearly a million copies.

The band, meanwhile, remained awestruck at the depth of their appeal: "We've sold all these albums when, honestly speaking, we're a super straight-ahead American guitar garage rock band". The title of their 1996 album infuriated the security company Pinkerton Service, and they issued legal proceedings shortly after its release. Wilson and Sharp also recorded with the Rentals; the latter left Weezer in 1998 to concentrate on this new outfit. His replacement was Mikey Welsh (b. 20 April 1971, Syracuse, New York, USA). Their third album was released to much fanfare and was well reviewed. Weezer recieved many nominations for their effort. Shortly after they began work on their next album, Welsh left the band and was replaced by Scott Shriner.

The bands latest album, Maladroit, was a bit different from their former "emo" sound. But fans and critics embraced it and when it was released in May of 2002 it was a sucess.

weezer fans rawk!